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The Birdman of Old Delhi | by Nachiket Sharma
Photographer
Nachiket Sharma is a documentary photographer from India. An alumnus of the Ian Parry Photojournalism Scholarship, his work was selected for the 2019 UNESCO Youth Lens on the Silk Roads Traveling Exhibition and the 2021 Noorderlicht Photo Competition in the Netherlands, and has been published in The Reader’s Digest and F-Stop Magazine.
As Delhi rapidly modernizes, the old city’s core keeps a different rhythm—one where time moves slowly and the presence of birds is celebrated. Capturing the centuries-old tradition known as kabutarbazi, photographer Nachiket Sharma follows Mohammad Sajid to his rooftop, where he tends to his flock of pigeons, directing them in flight and calling them home.
On a fourth-floor rooftop in Old Delhi, restaurant manager Mohammad Sajid can often be found tending to his pigeons. Offering a glimpse into the world of kabutarbazi—a pastime practiced since the inception of the Mughal empire in the sixteenth century—Sajid and his pigeons are linked in an age-old companionship.
The pigeons respond to Sajid’s calls and gestures, swaying in undulating flight as he directs their movement through the air. When it’s time for their return, Sajid signals, and they fly swiftly back to him. He feeds his pigeons as deliberately and affectionately as he feeds his restaurant customers—millet and water in the summer months, and dry fruits and buttered rotis in the winter.
As the rest of Delhi rapidly modernizes and globalizes, the city’s core continues to move with a different rhythm. Here, time moves slowly, longing has a home, and the presence of birds is celebrated. Sitting together on rooftops, local communities watch not just for the bird that soars the farthest, but for the one that dances through the skies with singular grace.
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